Mini Chocolate Cake

The last time I made this mini chocolate cake for two, we ate it in the car on the way to dinner. And if I remember correctly, we had burgers and fries.

It’s not that this cake is ‘light’ or ‘not too sweet’ or whatever it is that people say about dessert to make them feel less badly about eating it. It’s a solid, rich chocolate cake.

The cake has a crumb that is one notch closer to pound cake than boxed cake mix, which I love. The ganache on top is my obsession. I almost never remember to put butter on the counter to soften for cake frosting, and a 2-minute chocolate ganache solves that problem.

The pomegranate seeds are just, well, pretty. And crunchy. And tart. And very welcome.

It’s just that, I always have room for dessert, even if it’s at the beginning of a meal. As it turns out, my grandma was wrong: eating dessert before dinner does not spoil your appetite. Just like how going to bed with wet hair won’t give you pneumonia. (She always said that).

I’m going to help you out with all of your Valentine’s Day dessert for two needs, but first: you’re going to need a 6″ cake pan. They’re adorable. And once you buy one, you can make allllll of my mini cake recipes. (Plus, I even use it to make a small batch of fudge, too!).

When you bake small desserts, you can have more desserts in your life. <–I think I’m going to run for office on that slogan.

And to win the votes, I’m going to let you put your face under that cup of warm, melted chocolate. Sound good? Quick note: You want the 6″ cake pan with the 2″ sides, not 3″ sides.

The folks at The Hershey Company asked me to make a quick little video about this cake, since the recipe is based on their ‘Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake’ recipe on the back of their cocoa can. So, I channeled Giada, put on a hot pink shirt, matching lipstick (is it ok to match your lipstick to your shirt? I have no idea), and baked you a cake! Enjoy :)

Preheat the oven to 350, and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.

Line a 6" round cake pan (with 2" sides) with parchment paper on the bottom, and lightly grease the sides with oil.

Next, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, sour cream, egg, vanilla and coffee.

Combine the two bowls, mixing just until combined.

Pour the batter into the cake pan, and bake for 29-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. If you under-bake the cake, it will slightly sink, so check it! It will also start to pull away from the sides when it's done.

Remove the cake from the pan by carefully tilting it into one hand, peel off the parchment from the bottom, and then place it on a small cake stand.

In a double boiler, or bowl fitted over a pan of simmering water, combine the chopped chocolate, cream, and corn syrup (if using). Stir over medium heat until melted and smooth. *Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate and cream in the microwave in 25-second pulses on LOW power. Stir between each pulse.

Hi Karen,
Great question. The extra 1" of height creates extra heat (more metal around the cake) and makes the cake sink, in my experiments. The 6x3" pan is new; the only 6" cake pan they used to make was 6x2", so for the 6 years that I've been scaling down recipes, all of my recipes are adapted to the 2" pan. If you already have the 6x3" pan, you can try to use it, but maybe lower the heat in your oven 10-15 degrees and be prepared for a little cake sinkage...it's not the end of the world, extra frosting helps :)

I made this for my friend's 11 birthday, (now that we're in 6th grade I wanted to do something special) and I didn't use the coffee or substitute it for anything else. It still tasted amazing, and I am happy with the result. It was also the perfect consistency.

So happy that you reduce cake recipes... We love cake but, for the 2 of us a standard cake is just too much (although we COULD eat cake 3 nights in a row, we'd rather not, well shouldn't) ;o) I've gathered a few of your 'cake for 2 recipes' and it's off to the restaurant supply store for 6X2" pans... :O)

Mini cakes are fantastic. I agree, you can have more desserts in your life with smaller ones! We are also tea drinkers in my household but I love putting in a dash of coffee into chocolate cakes. I wouldn't even think of leaving it out. I've never added pomegranate to a choc cake but I like the idea of it.

I bought this set of 6 inch round cake pans, could I use a couple of them to make a small layer cake? https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/wilton-5-piece-6-inch-round-cake-pans-set-of-5/1043071715?skuId=43071715&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_bakeware_&product_id=43071715&adpos=1o3&creative=43742625349&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CIKEk6v8tdECFYhKDQodrR0BDg

The Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake is my go-to recipe, so I can't wait to try your adaptation, and in a small size, too! While I'm here -- do you have plans to be teaching any more classes in the St. Louis area this year?

Great recipe. I used warmed molasses instead of the coffee as my husband won't touch anything with coffee in it. It worked wonderfully. I am going to try the carrot cake next as I just love the 6" cooking tins. I have ordered your cookbooks so can't wait to try other recipes.

Update: First, I wish I could delete my previous comment. The cake actually tastes good despite that there was no sour cream in it. I made another one following the recipe and it is very good! It didn't have a crater in it this time. I'm going to stack the two and just put a whole bunch of frosting to fill the space. Who doesn't like frosting, right? Thanks

Just chanced upon this and am delighted with all your recipes which are perfect for two! Because really, there are only two of us at home plus my husband ain't that much of a dessert fan. The small portions will be perfect. Can I check if olive oil or vegetable oil are neutral oils? And also if the full fat sour cream can be substituted with low fat or light ones?

Hi, I would like to try this recipe, but I just wanted to make sure first about the cup size: in several blogs I see a cup is 100 grams and in others, a cup is normal 225 grams. Which is the size in this case?
I have tried always with the 225 grams cup size, but in some cases I have found out the hard way that it was not 225. Thanks :)

Hi Rigerta,
So, the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of flour, not a full cup. I don't typically share my recipes using weight measurements, I'm sorry! I would use an online calculator and go from there. Best of luck :)

Hi, Thanks for your answer! :)
I did try with taking half a cup of a 225 grams-cup (as in online-calculators).
The cake looks beautiful, it is just a biiit dry. Maybe I should try again with less flour.
Have a nice day!

Hi Christina, This recipe looks really simple and delicious. I do want to try it. But as I don't bake often I don't want to buy a cake tin. I do have a lot of glass pyrex bowls. Can I bake it in that? If so, do I have to change any of the instructions, temperature or time required to bake it?

Hi Meghana! Hmmm...how large are the glass bowls? Are they the little ramekin size? If so, you should try my chocolate cake for two made in ramekins: http://www.dessertfortwo.com/chocolate-cake-two/ Happy baking! :)

Hi Christina, I love your idea of small portions. a few questions:
1. Would I be able to eliminate the coffee without affecting the texture or do i have to substitute something like molasses instead?
2. I have a heart pan that is designed to be the top layer of a cake (much like yours). Would I be able to use it?
3. Do you have a sense for how many cupcakes this would make? I was thinking of using heart cupcake molds and cover with ganache.
4. Can the cake serve 4 kids? I'd give them each a scoop of ice cream as well. Thank you,

Hi Bahar, 1. A good substitute for the coffee is warm water. Don't skip the water, it will make the cake less moist.
2. I haven't tried this in a heart pan. Is it 6" across?
3. I've never used this exact recipe for cupcakes because I have other small batch chocolate cupcake recipes on this site, sorry!
4. Absolutely! It makes 4 mini slices of cake, perfect for kids!

Beng Acosta, I just want to say that I believe Christina's temperature measurement is in Fahrenheit and you are referring to Celsius. Christina, I was given a little 6-inch cake pan, 3 inches high, and while searching the internet for small cake recipes, came across yours. I will attempt to make this and lower the heat as suggested by you to another enquirer. Thanks!

Hi Hannah! Thanks for chiming in to help :)
Did you see that I've had trouble with 3" tall pans before? The extra inch of height can sometimes make the cake sink (because more metal conducts more heat). I hope that you have success, but I use 6x2" pans on this site. I'm sorry! I hope it still works for you, and now I should really make some recipes using a 6x3" pan! Good luck and thanks for stopping by! It's nice to meet you <3

I made this yesterday with a 7 inch round cake pan. It's really hard to find a 6 inch cake pan here in Australia. It came out perfect but it does not look as good as your mini cake, it's very thin lol. I will try to make the same quantity + half of all the measurement and see if it'll rise.

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